Wench has bitten me for the last time!

B

blumarlin

Premium Member
My clarki has become a complete beast! My husband used to laugh @ me when I was cleaning the tank & let out a yelp while she caught me off guard took a nip at my hand.

I was out of town last week, talking to him on the phone while he was cleaning the tank for me when she got him...he yelled knocked a loose rock down, his elbow hit the light fixture, broke 2 legs off & almost hit the water.......bringing back the ever so heard quote "I cant believe your scared of a little fish ha ha"

This little fish is now 4-4 1/2 " & a pain in the a**, err hand!
She took a bite out of my finger last nite while cleaning the tank & drew blood. My stupid self, armed w/ my net went back in to move some shrooms. She left a bleeding bite mark almost an inch long & totally brusied this morning!

She has been in the tank almost 2 yrs now w/ 4 btas, 3 she claims & one she allows my maroon to live in. ( The maroon was not my choice, a gift from my wonderful hubby a week after I added the clarki). The maroon has hardly grown in 2 years, & is about 1 1/2". Does the female dominace thing apply to different species of clowns in the same tank?

Sorry,didnt mean to be so long. I want to get rid of her but I'm afraid nobody will take her due to her size. My maroon is a sweetheart, maybe becuz of the clarkie.

I wanted to get rid of the clarkie & pair the maroon, but now thinking of getting rid of them both and getting a single pait of more passiive clowns.......percula or ocellaris? Any thoughts?

Also, lonely single female clarki seeking new home for free!!!
 
I have been bitten (( fairly hard, blood was involved )), by both Percs and O's, so I wouldn't count on them not bitting you -- it is gong to be a crap shoot. I am actually shocked that your maroon hasn't.

Oddly enough, my Clarkii pair are wimps, they will act tough and come up to me, but always back off, in the 9 years I have had them they have never bitten me.

My pink skunk pair is pretty passive, they will "bark" at me, but never bite. Yes, I said "bark" they are very vocal.
 
My occy female took a running swipe at me a few days ago for the first time in the 2 years that I have had her...All of this due to the addition of an anemone which she feels I am out to get if I even hover my hand above the tank. For 2 years she was the most endearing fish around, eating outta my hand and generally being a good gal. Now she is a violent suspicious pain in the rear.
 
You're lucky to have such a passive maroon, mine will speed across the tank to nail you as you clean. She and her bf will be leaving when the new tank arrives and replaced with a pair of ocellaris!
 
I must be like, a fish whisperer or something. I am yet to have a clownfish bite me and I worked a year in a LFS and have been 2 years in the hobby with several different kinds of clowns.

At the store I worked at we used to have this very large female maroon and her mate (RIP big momma) they were 32 years old or so. They were retired breeding clowns from ORA.

Well, long story short she'd attack everyone, even my boss (the owner of the store) however when my hands were in the tank every morning to clearn and straighten up the coral she would just look at me and if I offered her my finger she'd nibble it like she was giving it kisses.

My big latz clown at home does this too, she hasn't yet made any aggressive moves at me and neiter have my percs. Go figure!

The most I was abused was by this awful red lipped blenny that would come out of NOWHERE in one of the store tanks and scare the snot out of me.
 
My ocellaris was an evil little thing. She took a ocellaris mouth sized chunk out of my husbands hand. Don't think they are passive just because they are small. She would just bump and scare me. I never got bit hard enough that she made me bleed. I think she knew I won't put up with that.

Luckly, my chrysopterus leave me alone when I have to move corals around in the tank. They are even afraid of the mag float.

If you want a clown that won't attack your hand..get pink skunks.
 
By getting rid of the Clarkii, the chances of having the SAME problem when you pair your Maroon are good. My Maroon female the same size of your Clarkii would draw blood on me as well. Beware that no matter what clown you put in there, they are territorial when it comes to their home, (i.e. Anemone, tank, etc.).
 
tpdpercula, thats what I was afraid off, So I figured I get rid of the maroon also. I have done some research on the pink skunk clowns as others have said these are the least aggressive.
But it doenst seem bta's are their host of choice.

Is it possible they would host the bta's? They have long since lost their bubble tips & have long flowing tentacles like a LTA.
 
Thanks wicked! I have called a few lfs (they are an hour away in Pensacola, Fl & one of them have 2 orange skunks & one just received 2 pinks a couple of days ago. The pinks are the same size & in a tank w/ various clownfishes. He assures me they will have no problem pairing, although I would prefer one be smaller than the other.

One of the lfs will not take the fish as a trade in, but promised to find homes for them. The other is interested in the maroon (gold striped).

It just hit me earlier that I dont have a qt tank set up, took it down several months ago. So, Ill start setting it up sometime tonite.

I know the importance of cycling, but could I take water out of my existing tank?

Any input on the precycled water you can now buy @ my lfs?
 
My female occelaris will literally jump out of the tank to bite my hand if I hold it above the water on the same half of the tank as her anemone. Apparently, ginormous sebaes are worth fighting for. If I have to do any major maintenance in my tank (meaning my hands have to be in the tank) my wife has to stand guard with the algae scraper to keep her away from me long enough to work. It is amazing how accomplished she is at biting the loose skin on my knuckles and drawing blood.

It's like she knows where to bite me to make me bleed.... (insert Twilight zone music)
 
I have had a very similar issue with my Tomato clown which is only 2 in long. He doesn't have the ability to draw blood yet (i hope this remains true). I just make sure I have an eye on him whenever i am doing tank work. Wow it is crazy what clown fish can do!
 
Mixing clowns just not recommended, but IMO, skunks and occs maybe, but I wouldn't even try it if in your 40g in sig.
By dumb luck I found a way to not get bit by clowns.
I wear my shiny stainless steel watch.
Just like they say about fish hitting shiny jewelry while swimming in the ocean, same goes for tank maintenence.
My maroon would hit that watch everytime, saving my skin.
Eventually she got tired of it(maybe dulled her teeth!)
Putting on that watch became part of tank maintenence!
I'm sure a bracelet, or anything that catches it's reflection would do the same.
 
,By what I have heard & read, you should never mix species of clownfishes. As I said before, my hubby gave me a gift of a baby maroon a week later after after the addition of the clarki (which has become the clarki from he**) after I remove the clarki, the maroon may also become the little b****, whos to say? As of now she is a sweetheart, never steals food from her nem (the clarki always has , from day one). She has never even nipped @ me. But if I give her a mate, things may change. Which brings me to my present situation.

davocen, your theory makes sense. I was wearing a very nice ring inherited from my grandmother when the clarki took the first real bite 1/4 " from my ring. Although, I wear it every day & she may not have been intimated by it.

Next week I will wear my husbnd's big gawky divers watch & see what happens.

The clarki has been in the tank for almost 2 ys now & just doing what she would do in the wild. I guess as long as I have been tending to her, it hurts my feelings: Ya dont bite the hand that feeds you.

Anyway, I still think I give it try / the pink skunks. I wont rush it & wait for my QT tank to cycle, although I am totally dreading cleaing my tank for the next few weeks....the gawky divers watch gives me hope.

I'll let ya know how it goes. Thanks all!
 
Luckily your clarki became the female. Your maroon might stay a male. I think if the maroon was the female it might kill the clarki but, luckily, the clarki is the dominate.

My maroon has never really bitten me hard. She nips sometimes. I think she thinks I might have food.
 
She is only doing what comes naturally to her... Defending 'her' territory from a big five limbed God knows what! ;) So something to consider before dumping her...


Positive and negative reinforcement. From personal experience over the years (I do love Maroon's) I have found that by associating my paw with a source of food (positive) and a source of a gentle swat to the nose (negative) over time they will behave.

What I would do is hand feed my tank so my clowns would associate my hand with food and not go after it right out of the gate. At the same time when I had my hand in there to clean I would purposely put it where I knew they would be unable to resist charging it and trying for a bite. The second they got close but hadn't bit yet I would very gently bop her (usually the female was the biter) on the nose. I would not usually connect but the message came across very clear and only took a little bit of time. The hand feeding part took more time.

As an aside I had a female Maroon who would literally go out of her way to mess with my head! I would put a piece of coral into the tank exactly where I wanted it. She would then watch me closely until I left the room and then promptly move it as far as she could from where I put it! I know she would watch because after being puzzled by my newly placed coral migrating across the tank and onto the sand bed (still in an upright position) (and obviously I am not very bright ;) since it took a bit to figure out) I left the room then peaked back inside so she couldn't fully see me. Sure enough she was parked at the side of the glass facing the door and watching for me. When I didn't come back in she would knock it off then nudge it across the tank!
 
Kabuto, I wondered if 2 different species would have sexed. I guess if they both were female one would have killed the other. This would explain why my maroon is so docile. There are 4 btas in the tank & the clarki clims 3 of them. Every few months or so, she decides she wants the maroons nem & he takes the one she has abandoned.

I really dont know what to do. I do love the maroon, & really want a pair of clowns, not a pair of "piranhas".

I'll have plenty of time to think about it while my qt cycles. But I'm really liking the skunks more & more.

Urchin, the clarki is my problem child. I have tried to bump her on the head, shes just too fast. Now she hides while I'm cleaning the tank then BAM! she comes out of nowhere. She is my bbf when its feeding time, she'll even stick her head out of the water. She would probley take if from my hand (along w/ my finger:eek1: )

Needless to say, in a few weeks shes outta there!
 
Aye. Pity that. They have great personalities. Perhaps try holding your hand near her and waiting. The second you see her coming at you then sway away. Also chase her around the tank a bit.

Try hand feeding by the way. She won't bite your finger and its allot of fun. Of course I have no life... :)
 
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